Vegetation in rural roadsides of the Pampa region (Argentina): an opportunity for grassland conservation?

Searching to improve connectivity in fragmented landscapes: Road verges as complementary habitats

“…We expect that this information and appropriate management will promote the potential of road verges to improve functional connectivity in agricultural landscapes. Road verges can be considered complex systems with high variability in their plant community composition, where both native and exotic species constitute novel assemblages with diverse species functions (Herrera et al, 2020).…”

“…We expect that this information and appropriate management will promote the potential of road verges to improve functional connectivity in agricultural landscapes. Road verges can be considered complex systems with high variability in their plant community composition, where both native and exotic species constitute novel assemblages with diverse species functions (Herrera et al., 2020). Additionally, it is important to highlight that management strategies for maintaining and restoring linear habitats in agricultural landscapes have relatively low costs (Dainese et al., 2017) and provide significant long‐term benefits for biodiversity conservation.…”

“…Road verges, due to the larger edge‐to‐area ratio, have a greater contact surface with the landscape matrix and are therefore usually more exposed to the dynamics of an agricultural landscape and subjected to fumigation drift from neighboring lots, overgrazing, or agricultural crop replacement (Herrera et al., 2017c). These processes strongly affect plant community structure, enabling the introduction of opportunistic exotic species more adapted to disturbance conditions (Ortega & Laterra, 2003; Herrera et al., 2020).…”

“…As a consequence of the expansion of crop frontiers, the displacement to and concentration of livestock in marginal areas for agriculture constitutes an additional threat to the ecological integrity of these highly vulnerable grassland remnants (Manuel‐Navarrete et al., 2009). Currently, remnants of native vegetation can be found in non‐cultivated areas such as sierras and cerrilladas (Valicenti et al., 2010; Herrera et al., 2017c), rural roadsides and rail sides (Ramírez & Herrera, 2012; Sáez et al., 2014; Herrera et al., 2020). These marginal habitats represent one of the few natural habitats within this agricultural matrix (Herrera & Laterra, 2011).…”

Roadsides are key habitats for birds in the Argentine Pampas: conservation and management implications

“…Moreover, their roadsides are often unnecessarily mown, fumigated or even cropped to increase agricultural yields. Argentine Pampas' roadsides have a high conservation value: it has been reported that their vegetation is similar to the original vegetation of the region (Herrera et al 2017, Depalma & Mermoz 2019 and that they host great plant and pollinator diversity (Herrera et al 2020, Monasterolo et al 2020). In addition, birds are more frequent in field and road borders than in the adjacent fields (Leveau & Leveau 2011).…”